Campaign signs declaring: "Latimer Raises Our Taxes. . .But Won't Pay HIS!" popped up along roadways in Westchester this weekend alongside Pro-Latimer signs. These ones are in the Town of Greenburgh.Photo Credit: Jon CraigCaps on sale at the last County Center gun show included one labeled "Rebel" with a Confederate flag on it. County Executive Rob Astorino was endorsed by Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW) despite his vocal support for gun ownership and hunting.Photo Credit: Jon CraigAn example of a campaign mailing that rips state Sen. George Latimer, a Democrat from Rye, for supporting state tax increases.Photo Credit: Jon CraigA closeup of new signs that popped up over the final weekend of state Sen. George Latimer's challenge to unseat Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino. The Latimer family owes more than $45,000 in taxes in Rye on his late mother-in-law's estate.Photo Credit: Jon Craig

comment

Public opinion polls, including Daily Voice's, have found the race between state Sen. George Latimer and Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino "too close to call" in the days leading up to Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Poll

Who will you be voting for in the 2017 Westchester County Executive race?

Rob Astorino
George Latimer

Final Results
Voting Closed

Who will you be voting for in the 2017 Westchester County Executive race?

Rob Astorino

48%

George Latimer

52%

Over the weekend, campaign lawn signs that criticize Latimer, a Democrat, for failing to pay property taxes in Rye popped up across parts of Westchester. Latimer has said the unpaid taxes stem from an unresolved estate following his mother-in-law's death, and that the family plans to pay them.

Latimer leads Astorino by two percentage points 51-49 in a Daily Voice online reader poll that remains live.
Here are the ongoing results
. (You can also vote in the poll on this page.)

Other polls by local news media outlets also have found Latimer running slightly ahead of Astorino, whose campaign has declined to release its polling numbers.

This public opinion poll
by FiOS1 and lohud.com found Latimer running slightly ahead of Astorino during the final week of the campaign.

Latimer and his supporters including U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are trumpeting a theme that voting against Astorino, a Republican from Mount Pleasant, would send a signal to President Trump.

On Sunday, Cuomo of New Castle said that voters need to elect Latimer not just to clean up Westchester County government, but to "send a clear message to Trump and the alt-right that New Yorkers do not support their extremist ideology."

"The alt-right has come to Westchester with a million-dollar money bomb to prop up one of Trump's most loyal supporters, Rob Astorino," Cuomo said. "He was an early backer of Trump and he represents the same ideology, but we cannot let the Alt-right all stars of Trump, Bannon and Astorino dictate Westchester policies for the next four years."

"We can't wait until 2020 to fight back: Donald Trump's defeat starts on Tuesday in Westchester. Every vote for George Latimer is a vote against the Trump-Astorino agenda," Cuomo said.

Astorino received an endorsement from Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW) and its adjunct Westchester4Geese. It came despite Astorino's vocal support of continued gun shows at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.

Kiley Blackman of Tuckahoe, who founded ADOW, has clashed with
county government in the past over some issues,
but said the current administration headed by Astorino has been "responsive and welcoming to our communications and requests for assistance on animal protection issues in Westchester County since his election in 2012. . . ."

"His office has provided a voice for the voiceless and for this reason we support his reelection in Westchester," Blackman said.

On Monday, Latimer received an endorsement from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. The advocacy group's goal is to reduce gun violence through legislation, education and influencing public opinion.